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Embed with Games: A Year on the Couch with Game Developers
In 2014 games critic Cara Ellison pledged to the internet she'd leave home, become itinerant, and travel around the world to live with and write about some of the most interesting game developers and their cultural outlook.
As your 'cyberpunk hair-dyed Attenborough', originally Cara put up the Embed With Games series monthly on a free blog as she travelled from couch to couch, writing about the people she met and about the way our game creators express the culture around them. The internet generously helped fund her travel costs through a subscription service, egging her on in the only way it could, the pledges going up each month. This is the collected work, called 'Embed With Games', with an exclusive introduction from Kieron Gillen, a cover from comics artist Irene Koh, and a conclusion exclusive to the ebook.
From London to Los Angeles, from the Netherlands to Malaysia to Japan to Australia, the book reveals how people involved in games are taking what they see around them and expressing it in digital playgrounds for other people to experience.
An emotional, weird, sometimes intimate experience, this is open ribcage writing about the side of making video games most people don't see or know about.
As your 'cyberpunk hair-dyed Attenborough', originally Cara put up the Embed With Games series monthly on a free blog as she travelled from couch to couch, writing about the people she met and about the way our game creators express the culture around them. The internet generously helped fund her travel costs through a subscription service, egging her on in the only way it could, the pledges going up each month. This is the collected work, called 'Embed With Games', with an exclusive introduction from Kieron Gillen, a cover from comics artist Irene Koh, and a conclusion exclusive to the ebook.
From London to Los Angeles, from the Netherlands to Malaysia to Japan to Australia, the book reveals how people involved in games are taking what they see around them and expressing it in digital playgrounds for other people to experience.
An emotional, weird, sometimes intimate experience, this is open ribcage writing about the side of making video games most people don't see or know about.
200 pages, ebook
First published June 1, 2015
16 people are currently reading
474 people want to read
About the author
Cara Ellison
2 books34 followersCara Ellison is a Scottish writer, game critic and video game narrative designer. She has written for The Guardian, VICE, Kotaku, PC Gamer, Paste Magazine and the New Statesman, wrote the best-named column in the world, S.EXE, at Rock Paper Shotgun, and had a regular opinion column at Eurogamer. She was also co-writer on Charlie Brooker’s How Videogames Changed The World for Channel Four television in the UK. Her writing and game narrative work has been featured in The New York Times and Wired, and she was one of The Guardian’s Top Ten Young People In Digital Media 2014. Currently she designs the narratives for video games.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
December 4, 2015
I have many other things to do right now. My laundry basket is piled higher than it's ever been, I have job applications that have been sitting open in a graveyard of browser tabs for days. I'd rather be finishing Undertale than write this.
But Cara Ellison ends her year-long Embed With Games project with the simple moral of "Never shut up", and I just know that if I do any one of those things, I will shut up, at best squeaking out some vague words of praise on Twitter and being done with it. So this is my attempt to not shut up; to give up a little bit of myself for an author who has given up so much of herself in her pursuit of cataloging and dissecting an exciting time in an evolving medium.
To say that this is all that Ellison does is disingenuous. Yes, Embed With Games is, of course, about games and the people that make them. Under examination are the people within the cracks, the ones who are not getting the attention they probably deserve. It's an acknowledgement that the games industry is simultaneously world-spanningly huge and incestuously small. It's a refutation of the canon that says that games only ever come from the United States and Japan. It's Ellison looking at the videogame equivalent of Hunter S. Thompson's crest of a wave and seeing it break forwards rather than fall back.
These are all vital things, especially as a chronicle of emerging independent games communities in places like Singapore and Australia.
But perhaps more important is how she really examines the ways in which her subjects put themselves into their artistic work. By looking at such a diverse group of people, the project drills down into how past experiences, personality, and environment all factor into the process of artistic creation. This is where the true value of the book comes from; you won't find a deeper look at the many facets of the creative process just about anywhere else.
Ellison's writing style is the crux of this. She's an incredibly literary wordsmith, adept at dropping in little location details and metaphors that lend the journey vibrancy. I read in an interview with her that she's always been a person who valued the rhythm of words, which is pretty on-point. Amidst all of this is a willingness to bear her soul, to allow herself to become the gonzo protagonist of this crazy tour, that makes her extremely personable. Imagine if HST was more willing to explore emotional states besides smugness and anger and you have the right idea. I suspect that this is partly what allows her the transparency granted by her subjects.
I don't really know what else to say about Embed With Games. My creative juices are running out of steam at this point, and it's hard to review a writer that is so obviously beyond your own level. This is likely why I have always shied away from formally reviewing any sort of writing. So here's the last word - you should buy this thing, devour it, and keep it in your bookshelf to refer back to.
Sorry, here's the actual last word - thank you, Cara Ellison, for giving me something to not shut up about.
But Cara Ellison ends her year-long Embed With Games project with the simple moral of "Never shut up", and I just know that if I do any one of those things, I will shut up, at best squeaking out some vague words of praise on Twitter and being done with it. So this is my attempt to not shut up; to give up a little bit of myself for an author who has given up so much of herself in her pursuit of cataloging and dissecting an exciting time in an evolving medium.
To say that this is all that Ellison does is disingenuous. Yes, Embed With Games is, of course, about games and the people that make them. Under examination are the people within the cracks, the ones who are not getting the attention they probably deserve. It's an acknowledgement that the games industry is simultaneously world-spanningly huge and incestuously small. It's a refutation of the canon that says that games only ever come from the United States and Japan. It's Ellison looking at the videogame equivalent of Hunter S. Thompson's crest of a wave and seeing it break forwards rather than fall back.
These are all vital things, especially as a chronicle of emerging independent games communities in places like Singapore and Australia.
But perhaps more important is how she really examines the ways in which her subjects put themselves into their artistic work. By looking at such a diverse group of people, the project drills down into how past experiences, personality, and environment all factor into the process of artistic creation. This is where the true value of the book comes from; you won't find a deeper look at the many facets of the creative process just about anywhere else.
Ellison's writing style is the crux of this. She's an incredibly literary wordsmith, adept at dropping in little location details and metaphors that lend the journey vibrancy. I read in an interview with her that she's always been a person who valued the rhythm of words, which is pretty on-point. Amidst all of this is a willingness to bear her soul, to allow herself to become the gonzo protagonist of this crazy tour, that makes her extremely personable. Imagine if HST was more willing to explore emotional states besides smugness and anger and you have the right idea. I suspect that this is partly what allows her the transparency granted by her subjects.
I don't really know what else to say about Embed With Games. My creative juices are running out of steam at this point, and it's hard to review a writer that is so obviously beyond your own level. This is likely why I have always shied away from formally reviewing any sort of writing. So here's the last word - you should buy this thing, devour it, and keep it in your bookshelf to refer back to.
Sorry, here's the actual last word - thank you, Cara Ellison, for giving me something to not shut up about.
May 28, 2017
Having let this book lie for a while shortly after buying it, I did all but fly through it once I started. Embed with Games isn't incredibly focused. It's not just someone flying hi and fro to ask the same olod questions in a couple of interviews. This game is personal. It takes you on a personal journey with someone and makes you feel the tiredness and slightly manic energy and morning-after comedown of it all, as Cara becomes what often feels like a gypsy among gypsies. The people she talks to and stays with care about games on a deep, artistic level and are trying to push the envelope both for their own sakes as well as the slow development of the entire games industry. Embed with Games introduced me to people I had never heard of and made me aware that game development is vast and a tiny village at the same time, where we move on from games and everything that is written about them quickly to get to the next game, but some experiences stay with us forever. Gamers and game-makers have signed up to their medium for life, and this book encompasses that by giving us portraits of quirky, often-overlooked artists who are not in it for many or fame, but to adhere to the very cornerstone of game design - to create an experience. Cara Ellison has created an experience, too - a series of essays that are a literary pleasure for a project that so far has no equal. It made me want to hug her and make sure she eats well, and it introduced me to the person beyond "that nice article". It's a true labour of love, one that I hope will endure even in the fast-paced world of gaming and games writing.
December 28, 2015
At first I was disappointed when I received the book to find that the pictures were not in colour (the reason for getting a hard copy over just the kindle version), then by the fact that, other than George (who I met at GDC last year), I had never even heard of any other developers interviewed in the book. I was also disappointed when I found out that the book was actually just the collection of blog posts freely available online (with colour photos).
But then something changed.
I realized that, regardless of there free status online, I would never have taken the time to sit and read them; having them in a book form was the reason I was still reading. The people who I had never heard of, I realized was the point of the book. To give exposure to the people who are doing creative work that would otherwise be lost.
The writing in this book contained a lot of references that went over my head and it was hard to adjust to reading blog posts in a book format. The stories are much more about people and their lives and experiences than their games. And it took a long time for me to appreciate that. But in the end, I am glad it was written in the way it was. As each chapter unfolded I grew more and more anxious that I wasn't developing games in my spare time, or going indie. The more I read the more I wanted it put the book down and be productive. With every mention of a new game I wanted to seek it out and play it. And I think that was what the book did so well, it inspired me.
I feel that the book kinda just started without enough background into why it was even written and I think if there was a little more setup then I wouldn't have had the negative thoughts so early on and would rated it higher.
But then something changed.
I realized that, regardless of there free status online, I would never have taken the time to sit and read them; having them in a book form was the reason I was still reading. The people who I had never heard of, I realized was the point of the book. To give exposure to the people who are doing creative work that would otherwise be lost.
The writing in this book contained a lot of references that went over my head and it was hard to adjust to reading blog posts in a book format. The stories are much more about people and their lives and experiences than their games. And it took a long time for me to appreciate that. But in the end, I am glad it was written in the way it was. As each chapter unfolded I grew more and more anxious that I wasn't developing games in my spare time, or going indie. The more I read the more I wanted it put the book down and be productive. With every mention of a new game I wanted to seek it out and play it. And I think that was what the book did so well, it inspired me.
I feel that the book kinda just started without enough background into why it was even written and I think if there was a little more setup then I wouldn't have had the negative thoughts so early on and would rated it higher.
February 26, 2016
I'm so incredibly glad this book exists, even though I read some of these pieces as they hit the interwebs (and this was part of my gripe with The State of Play: Creators and Critics on Video Game Culture--that the parts had existed online prior to being collected in a book). Ellison's writing is profoundly observant and funny. The participants (hosts?) are fascinating. The pictures are exactly the right kind of bad tiny digital image to go along with this scrapbook-blog-pet-project turned book. I love it. I underlined all over it, wrote in the margins, appreciated the thoughts.
February 12, 2019
I found very nice the idea of making a book out of a travel experience in which the journalist meets people who work in game industry. I'm only sorry that she wasn't able to find an actual good mixture of professionalism and intimacy, telling too less on herself and the people who met.
May 9, 2019
I've been reading an awful lot about games in 2019, but I haven't been passing much of what I've learned along. I figure it's time to pay some of that forward. Let's start with Cara Ellison's gonzo chronicle of a year spent couch-surfing with independent game developers of all stripes: Embed with Games.
PREAMBLE.
Once upon a time, a young man of many talents was possessed with a singular drive: to become a games journalist. He was naïve, sure, but equipped with the sort of unearned optimism that comes from a life of comfortable shelter from reality, he assumed it'd all work out.
This young man went to college and studied journalism. He did well. (He even made the dean's list, not that anyone's keeping score.) And when the time came to graduate, he felt sure his story was just beginning.
Well, anyway. That was 2008; now, it's 2019. The young man, to this day, hasn't earned a single dollar from his games writing, though that didn't stop him from creating a mountain of work for himself (which is still alive and kicking at siliconsasquatch.com). His dream didn't die; it was just transformed. Full-time, paid games writing, he'd decided, probably wasn't in the cards for him. Firmly in the hobby space, really.
Instead, life took him on a bunch of unexpected journeys: deep into the dramatic maelstrom of Silicon Valley, into more than a few existential crises, and through a makeshift, DIY boot-camp to become a game developer that — whoops — wound up leading him down a much more sustainable career in full-stack web stuff. Which is where he finds you now, writing this excessive lead-in to what was, I think, supposed to be a book review???
ANYWAY.
I really buried the lede here, but here it is:
Cara Ellison is one of the best writers I've ever read who writes in any capacity about games, and Embed with Games is a gripping, deeply personal narrative of an unpredictable journey.
If you haven't read Ellison's work in the Guardian, Kotaku, or any number of other places around the internet, you're in luck: it's still out there! Lately, she's been working as a senior writer on the sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, and according to this Twitter bio I'm reading at this moment, she also — how cool is this — worked as a narrative designer on Media Molecule's upcoming thing-maker, Dreams. So! Lots of great stuff. Lots of media in which you can discover her work. Including, as this post suggests, in a paperback book.
I've been keeping up with Ellison's work over the years, and I remembered hearing mention of her Embed project, but for whatever reason I never kept up with it. (Honestly, I don't think I even knew what a Patreon was in 2014). But a few weeks ago, and frankly out of nowhere, I remembered that she wrote a book about it, and, well, here we are. I bought it; I read it in about 24 hours flat; I loved it.
CONTEXT.
While the stories in this book are a few years old, I found them to be quite timeless. This isn't a book dissecting in detail the precise workflow and specific economic challenges facing an indie game developer in Europe versus East Asia in, say, 2014; it's a book about journey and discovery and meeting people and hoping to connect with them and yearning for just one night with a comfortable mattress all to one's own. It's a travel book. It's a personal narrative. It speaks to, I imagine, a time of significant transition in Ellison's life, and the way she writes about her story is piercing and raw, sharp and shrewd, at times exhausted, always real.
It's important, too, to note that this project was conducted in 2014, which was also the dawn of the Gamergate movement. Ellison touches on this a bit throughout the book, about the dissonance of wanting to help but being committed to a project that led her all over the world. She justifies her decision to herself, thankfully — that there is value in telling these stories, and in helping the world to learn about creative people with good hearts who overcome adversity to share their gifts with the world. I'm glad she stuck with it. Some of these stories already feel like touchstones to me. (I fully hope and plan to adopt Karla Zimonja's "I HAVE A FUCKING AGENDA" as my rallying cry.)
This book also forced me to confront what I chose to do in 2014. Did I leverage my (admittedly tiny) platform as best as I could to advocate against sexism, terror, and the threat of violence? More importantly: would I do anything different if it happened again, now that I'm older? I found myself thinking a lot, as Gamergate danced like a threatening flame around the periphery of Ellison's story, about what it takes to earn the designation of "advocate" or "ally." I think I've fallen short. I can, should, and need to do more now.
I found this book in the midst of the latest of those existential crises I mentioned earlier. (Again, nobody's keeping score here, but there's a solid chance I'm still in the thick of this one.) And for someone who's been daydreaming for years about cutting loose and setting out on a journey to learn more about the world, its people, and my own identity, Embed with Games is sheer wish fulfillment. I doubt anyone on the internet would want to help finance a relative unknown person to go travel the world and tell more of these stories, but — well, I don't know. I think these stories matter. Maybe I'll find a way to pick up this torch and continue this project in spirit.
(This originally ran on my blog at whymog.net.)
PREAMBLE.
Once upon a time, a young man of many talents was possessed with a singular drive: to become a games journalist. He was naïve, sure, but equipped with the sort of unearned optimism that comes from a life of comfortable shelter from reality, he assumed it'd all work out.
This young man went to college and studied journalism. He did well. (He even made the dean's list, not that anyone's keeping score.) And when the time came to graduate, he felt sure his story was just beginning.
Well, anyway. That was 2008; now, it's 2019. The young man, to this day, hasn't earned a single dollar from his games writing, though that didn't stop him from creating a mountain of work for himself (which is still alive and kicking at siliconsasquatch.com). His dream didn't die; it was just transformed. Full-time, paid games writing, he'd decided, probably wasn't in the cards for him. Firmly in the hobby space, really.
Instead, life took him on a bunch of unexpected journeys: deep into the dramatic maelstrom of Silicon Valley, into more than a few existential crises, and through a makeshift, DIY boot-camp to become a game developer that — whoops — wound up leading him down a much more sustainable career in full-stack web stuff. Which is where he finds you now, writing this excessive lead-in to what was, I think, supposed to be a book review???
ANYWAY.
I really buried the lede here, but here it is:
Cara Ellison is one of the best writers I've ever read who writes in any capacity about games, and Embed with Games is a gripping, deeply personal narrative of an unpredictable journey.
If you haven't read Ellison's work in the Guardian, Kotaku, or any number of other places around the internet, you're in luck: it's still out there! Lately, she's been working as a senior writer on the sequel to Vampire: The Masquerade Bloodlines 2, and according to this Twitter bio I'm reading at this moment, she also — how cool is this — worked as a narrative designer on Media Molecule's upcoming thing-maker, Dreams. So! Lots of great stuff. Lots of media in which you can discover her work. Including, as this post suggests, in a paperback book.
I've been keeping up with Ellison's work over the years, and I remembered hearing mention of her Embed project, but for whatever reason I never kept up with it. (Honestly, I don't think I even knew what a Patreon was in 2014). But a few weeks ago, and frankly out of nowhere, I remembered that she wrote a book about it, and, well, here we are. I bought it; I read it in about 24 hours flat; I loved it.
CONTEXT.
While the stories in this book are a few years old, I found them to be quite timeless. This isn't a book dissecting in detail the precise workflow and specific economic challenges facing an indie game developer in Europe versus East Asia in, say, 2014; it's a book about journey and discovery and meeting people and hoping to connect with them and yearning for just one night with a comfortable mattress all to one's own. It's a travel book. It's a personal narrative. It speaks to, I imagine, a time of significant transition in Ellison's life, and the way she writes about her story is piercing and raw, sharp and shrewd, at times exhausted, always real.
It's important, too, to note that this project was conducted in 2014, which was also the dawn of the Gamergate movement. Ellison touches on this a bit throughout the book, about the dissonance of wanting to help but being committed to a project that led her all over the world. She justifies her decision to herself, thankfully — that there is value in telling these stories, and in helping the world to learn about creative people with good hearts who overcome adversity to share their gifts with the world. I'm glad she stuck with it. Some of these stories already feel like touchstones to me. (I fully hope and plan to adopt Karla Zimonja's "I HAVE A FUCKING AGENDA" as my rallying cry.)
This book also forced me to confront what I chose to do in 2014. Did I leverage my (admittedly tiny) platform as best as I could to advocate against sexism, terror, and the threat of violence? More importantly: would I do anything different if it happened again, now that I'm older? I found myself thinking a lot, as Gamergate danced like a threatening flame around the periphery of Ellison's story, about what it takes to earn the designation of "advocate" or "ally." I think I've fallen short. I can, should, and need to do more now.
I found this book in the midst of the latest of those existential crises I mentioned earlier. (Again, nobody's keeping score here, but there's a solid chance I'm still in the thick of this one.) And for someone who's been daydreaming for years about cutting loose and setting out on a journey to learn more about the world, its people, and my own identity, Embed with Games is sheer wish fulfillment. I doubt anyone on the internet would want to help finance a relative unknown person to go travel the world and tell more of these stories, but — well, I don't know. I think these stories matter. Maybe I'll find a way to pick up this torch and continue this project in spirit.
(This originally ran on my blog at whymog.net.)
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March 6, 2016sin nota y sin review hasta que se lo lea Victor
May 10, 2022
Ellison's exhausting couch-surfing romp with what she figured were some of the coolest global indie game developers was extremely compelling. She chose her subjects well: most of the people she talks about have gone on to achieve even more success in the eight years since. She spends her time hanging, talking, drinking, playing, and reckoning.
The type of late 20-s drunken, desperate energy she exudes is something I'm quite familiar with. I wish my experience resulted in anything like the interesting words written down by Cara Ellison. She exposes herself in every way: good, bad, and ugly, and it feels like a gift to receive. (I believe the introduction uses this exact language) Now that I'm well into my 30s it reads like misguided grasping at straws twenty-something existential reckoning but I've done it and I ain't hating. In fact, I love it more because of this. The lack of measure and refinement gives it a punk vibe that I love, although video games by their very nature are so capitalistic that I don't know if it is even possible to be a "punk" in that space.
This book elicits a lot of feelings because it is raw and honest and imperfect, kind of like Ellison herself. It's probably the coolest book about video games I've read.
The type of late 20-s drunken, desperate energy she exudes is something I'm quite familiar with. I wish my experience resulted in anything like the interesting words written down by Cara Ellison. She exposes herself in every way: good, bad, and ugly, and it feels like a gift to receive. (I believe the introduction uses this exact language) Now that I'm well into my 30s it reads like misguided grasping at straws twenty-something existential reckoning but I've done it and I ain't hating. In fact, I love it more because of this. The lack of measure and refinement gives it a punk vibe that I love, although video games by their very nature are so capitalistic that I don't know if it is even possible to be a "punk" in that space.
This book elicits a lot of feelings because it is raw and honest and imperfect, kind of like Ellison herself. It's probably the coolest book about video games I've read.
May 6, 2017
A Scottish games journalist and writer takes a trip around the world, stopping in locations from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur and spending time with various (mostly independent) game developers. Written over the span of 2014, it provides a vivid snapshot of the cutting edge of videogame creation, while also being a very personal work (like much of Ellison's writing). She captures quiet, intimate moments and busy parties with equal dexterity, is candid in talking about the parts of games culture and culture at large that excite or upset her. The book is part travelogue, too, and Ellison sketches out cities and homes with character and life. Reading it I felt envious, not just of the places she was able to visit but the people and conversations she was able to engage with. A very good book.
June 24, 2023
I liked the concept of this book: traveling for a year throughout the world to live shortly with different game developers, learn about their outlook on development, cultural opinions, how they live, etc.
It's very personal and raw, which I really liked, but on the other hand the book sometimes felt like it had no goal. It's like reading through a series of unrelated vignettes, with streams of consciousness from the narrator in between.
I say unrelated because they're all so different, narratively speaking. Of course, they're all different people who have different things to say, but some felt really insightful into an indie game dev's life (which I felt was the main idea), while others just felt like a travelogue as the narrator was guided through a new city.
It's very personal and raw, which I really liked, but on the other hand the book sometimes felt like it had no goal. It's like reading through a series of unrelated vignettes, with streams of consciousness from the narrator in between.
I say unrelated because they're all so different, narratively speaking. Of course, they're all different people who have different things to say, but some felt really insightful into an indie game dev's life (which I felt was the main idea), while others just felt like a travelogue as the narrator was guided through a new city.
May 27, 2019
A book of journeys by Cara Ellison documenting her travels in 2014 highlighting independent developers from the UK to Singapore, Japan, Australia and Europe.
The writing was coherent but a little too inside, the included pictures incredibly amateurish, smartphone shots.
She definitely has the chops and reading about the cloistered communities pushing past gamings expectations is captivating.
The writing was coherent but a little too inside, the included pictures incredibly amateurish, smartphone shots.
She definitely has the chops and reading about the cloistered communities pushing past gamings expectations is captivating.
June 18, 2018
Probably the most essential book there is about making games (but not just about making games, really). I'm so glad it exists, for Cara Ellison's way with words and ability to weave seemingly fragmentary ideas and feelings together, for the underlying optimism it imbues.
May 3, 2019
Very difficult to read, especially the first chapters. Not enough info about games and the indie devs, although it's in the title, and it's why I bought the book in the first place.
It gets better later in the book but I guess the Gonzo style is just not for me.
It gets better later in the book but I guess the Gonzo style is just not for me.
April 21, 2021
I didn't quite enjoy this as much as some of the people in the other reviews.
The almost stream of conscious style of writing made it harder for me to get into
But when I did it was an interesting read, it's more about people than games though. That's not specifically a bad thing though
The almost stream of conscious style of writing made it harder for me to get into
But when I did it was an interesting read, it's more about people than games though. That's not specifically a bad thing though
February 10, 2018
A bit dull if I'm honest. I had to renew this book from the library 5 times in order to finish it. Still, it made me download and play Downwell, so not all bad.
May 3, 2019
Page turner. Deeply personal account of “the” (or “a”, or “some”) indie game scene and a trip to find it
March 27, 2019
1) "There are two sleeping monsters to kill before I leave the craggy beaten shores of Great Britain: one I love, and one I hate. The nearest convenient colossus is an hour away by train, looming in the darkness like a knobbled old fuckwit, grinding up all the talented people like Sarlacc. London."
2) "I am on the balcony with Increpare, whose game Slave of God is one of the most profound games I've ever played. The air is on frost edge. London is too bright to show us stars in the sky, but the balcony overlooks an old Victorian factory, and over to the right, the lights of Canary Wharf are almost a good enough substitute for constellations.
I remember the first time I looked out over Canary Wharf's jagged lines pocked with white; it reminds me of M83 and being stiflingly heartbroken. I do not like this city very much, I think, but I love that these people can exist in it. I love that they are making things. London tries so hard to prevent it. But people are making things."
3) "But days pass through this big creaking house that would never pass through a room in London; days in Berkeley are long and taste like buttered popcorn and soda water and sound like wind chimes and Joanna Newsom humming. At night, the sounds of Liz [Ryerson]'s next-door housemate squeaking in ecstasy mid-coitus are heard over the toilet flushing. Though I probably haven't been alone for more than an hour in three months, part of me loves the idea that each room in this house has some sort of noise emanating from it. Sometimes it's the sound of Liz's collection of Doom mods, sometimes it's the sharp low sound of Eartha Kitt's voice from next door. Sometimes we play Liz's music.
When the house moves, we move."
4) [Ojiro Fumoto] "I thought hard about what I really wanted to do. If I could do anything in the world what would I do? I didn't want to become the greatest thing in the world. I wanted to become a game developer."
5) "I always think of games as a document of closeness, of responses. I think this book is the closest I will ever get to telling you, the reader: for me games are about closeness.
I got closer to games in 2014 than I have ever been. I looked games in the heart, and it was terrible and wonderful, and I couldn't give less of a shit about what kind of journalism it was supposed to be. It was the kind of journalism where you look at the consequences and costs of existing in a space, and you think fuck it. We have all given something to pull the future closer to us, some more than others, but we will all be remembered if we keep writing it down and sharing it.
If I were an investigative journalist, perhaps I would conclude with my findings. I think my findings are this: Never shut up. It brings us together."
2) "I am on the balcony with Increpare, whose game Slave of God is one of the most profound games I've ever played. The air is on frost edge. London is too bright to show us stars in the sky, but the balcony overlooks an old Victorian factory, and over to the right, the lights of Canary Wharf are almost a good enough substitute for constellations.
I remember the first time I looked out over Canary Wharf's jagged lines pocked with white; it reminds me of M83 and being stiflingly heartbroken. I do not like this city very much, I think, but I love that these people can exist in it. I love that they are making things. London tries so hard to prevent it. But people are making things."
3) "But days pass through this big creaking house that would never pass through a room in London; days in Berkeley are long and taste like buttered popcorn and soda water and sound like wind chimes and Joanna Newsom humming. At night, the sounds of Liz [Ryerson]'s next-door housemate squeaking in ecstasy mid-coitus are heard over the toilet flushing. Though I probably haven't been alone for more than an hour in three months, part of me loves the idea that each room in this house has some sort of noise emanating from it. Sometimes it's the sound of Liz's collection of Doom mods, sometimes it's the sharp low sound of Eartha Kitt's voice from next door. Sometimes we play Liz's music.
When the house moves, we move."
4) [Ojiro Fumoto] "I thought hard about what I really wanted to do. If I could do anything in the world what would I do? I didn't want to become the greatest thing in the world. I wanted to become a game developer."
5) "I always think of games as a document of closeness, of responses. I think this book is the closest I will ever get to telling you, the reader: for me games are about closeness.
I got closer to games in 2014 than I have ever been. I looked games in the heart, and it was terrible and wonderful, and I couldn't give less of a shit about what kind of journalism it was supposed to be. It was the kind of journalism where you look at the consequences and costs of existing in a space, and you think fuck it. We have all given something to pull the future closer to us, some more than others, but we will all be remembered if we keep writing it down and sharing it.
If I were an investigative journalist, perhaps I would conclude with my findings. I think my findings are this: Never shut up. It brings us together."
January 19, 2017
И киното и гейм индустрията имат своите велики имена, но ако попаднеш в някой град на края на света и попиташ случаен минувач кой е Спилбърг и кой е Кармак със сигурност за първия ще каже нещо, а втория ще го помисли за марка самобръсначки.
Авторката на книгата се опитва да спре тази неправда и поема нелеката задача да обиколи цял свят и да ни представи най-зачуканите гейм дивелъпъри.
Повечето от хората, за които пише са работили по ААА заглавия, но са решили, че животът им е твърде спокоен в големите корпорации и започват да го играят соло (понякога и в екип от няколко души). Всеки е от тях е странен по свой собствен начин. Зад повечето създадени от тях игри лежи някоя много дълбока философия, а в някои случаи дори сюжета е вдъхновен от реални случки в живота на самия създател.
Книгата ме оставя със смесени чувства, защото реално стила на Кара е супер, но почти изцяло зависи от това дали действително историята зад този човек или игра е интересна.
Авторката на книгата се опитва да спре тази неправда и поема нелеката задача да обиколи цял свят и да ни представи най-зачуканите гейм дивелъпъри.
Повечето от хората, за които пише са работили по ААА заглавия, но са решили, че животът им е твърде спокоен в големите корпорации и започват да го играят соло (понякога и в екип от няколко души). Всеки е от тях е странен по свой собствен начин. Зад повечето създадени от тях игри лежи някоя много дълбока философия, а в някои случаи дори сюжета е вдъхновен от реални случки в живота на самия създател.
Книгата ме оставя със смесени чувства, защото реално стила на Кара е супер, но почти изцяло зависи от това дали действително историята зад този човек или игра е интересна.
January 10, 2016
Being a fan of Cara's writing, and having followed the Embed With project as it happened, it was a bit of a no brainer for me to buy this book. Cara's anecdotes as she roams the world, meeting important, often-unheard voices in the world of gaming is delightful and eye opening. We definitely no longer live in a world where AAA, multi-million dollar games rule the world. Indie games, released through various means, have carved out quite a bit more than a niche in people's psyches. Just look at games like Undertale or Her Story, and you'll realize that we're lucky to be experiencing this growing world.
And if that is the case, then Cara's efforts to bring the stories of the people who create and shape this burgeoning world to those who might not be aware of them are more important and worth appreciating than ever.
And if that is the case, then Cara's efforts to bring the stories of the people who create and shape this burgeoning world to those who might not be aware of them are more important and worth appreciating than ever.
September 14, 2016
A varied and fascinating travelogue that profiles mostly indie game developers (and a few AAA) from around the world. Their perspectives, in addition to Cara's own voice, give credence to video games as not just a hobby, or art, or a form of entertainment, but a way to enrich and find meaning in one's life. This collection of travel essays is the most intimate and incisive writing I've read about gaming and revealing about what drives people to develop video games.
I love Cara Ellison's thoughts on each city she visits too, her essay from Australia was especially amusing (she even went to Brisbane and visited Southbank's fake beach, our best landmark!) and her jetlag resonates throughout the work. I sympathise especially with that aspect of travel, this undertaking must've been exhausting as hell. Well worth the read.
I love Cara Ellison's thoughts on each city she visits too, her essay from Australia was especially amusing (she even went to Brisbane and visited Southbank's fake beach, our best landmark!) and her jetlag resonates throughout the work. I sympathise especially with that aspect of travel, this undertaking must've been exhausting as hell. Well worth the read.
May 11, 2016
It feels a bit weird reading this in book form. Links are still underlined but no longer lead anywhere. At times it makes the writing feel splattered with name-dropping without much purpose. The stories feel removed from their online natural habitat.
But it's still great. The Nina Freeman section is a particular favourite of mine. And yes, I want more people to have heard of Katharine Neil (especially in Australia). While naturally there are limits on what one person could do in a year, it's both more intimate and more global than most video game discussion, and that means a lot to me.
But it's still great. The Nina Freeman section is a particular favourite of mine. And yes, I want more people to have heard of Katharine Neil (especially in Australia). While naturally there are limits on what one person could do in a year, it's both more intimate and more global than most video game discussion, and that means a lot to me.
October 24, 2016
This book is almost as much about the stress of travelling and being in a low-budget indie job as it is about games, but I liked how the author's personality and quirks shone through everything she was relating. This was a tour of people doing interesting things with games; there were a lot of names here I didn't recognize since I'm not very knowledgeable about the indie games scene. I liked the explanations different people gave for why they make games and what they are trying to do when they design something. All-in-all, a good read with lots of little pointers toward games to try and people to look up. A scavenger hunt, of sorts.
November 13, 2015
I annotated the shit out of Embed with Games, occasional Paste contributor Cara Ellison’s recently-released compendium of her travels living with game developers. I underlined quotes I found insightful and scrawled responses in the margins. I destroyed this book because I wanted to find the running thread that connected each of the interviews, or to connect with one of them on some deeper level as a struggling creative.
Read the rest of my review over at Paste Magazine.
Read the rest of my review over at Paste Magazine.
January 2, 2016
This collection of essays are a very human and real look at the people who make video games all around the world.
As someone who makes games, this felt personal as though I could completely relate to the subjects of Cara's writing.
Highly recommended for anyone with even the smallest interested in the backstories of creators of games and any digital art medium.
As someone who makes games, this felt personal as though I could completely relate to the subjects of Cara's writing.
Highly recommended for anyone with even the smallest interested in the backstories of creators of games and any digital art medium.
July 6, 2015
An intimate travelogue of Ellison's visits with various indie gaming creators. Covers everything from why people make games, to the importance of conversation and connection between souls. I very much enjoyed the insights, discoveries, and thoughtful ponderings.
May 31, 2016
A travelogue intertwined with coalface documentation of an emerging independent games culture. Excellently written, personal and political, and not once a book written only for specialists. All shoestring creators should grab a copy, and see what people are up to.
August 16, 2016
The book is one part travelogue and two parts snapshot in time of indie development across the globe. Really fun read.
February 28, 2016
Cara Ellison is one of the best video game critics/journalists/writers out there, and this travelogue really shows it off.
July 4, 2016
Yeah, this book is theoretically about games and the people who make them, but, like the best writing, it is really Ellison's journey that makes this book magical and immensely readable.
December 14, 2016
Cara Ellison is one of the freshest, rawest writers around, and I really enjoyed this journey around the homes and lives of some of the games industry's most interesting characters.
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